Tuesday, July 21, 2015
He Owns it All
Paul wrote about being overwhelmed by so many things, today I am overwhelmed by God's provision.
To step out in faith and know that this is the path you are to be following with God and your family is scary. There are times when I can think, "did I hear you right God?"And yet, HE brings me peace as we take each step forward. One of the steps forward is financially. There have been some neat ways God has already shown up and provided EXACTLY what we needed at the right time, by moving in the hearts of different people. It has never been too much, but just the right amount at the right time.
Our little garage sale we hosted to help towards the adoption went well, as did Zoë's little lemonade stand. It was such a blessing to see Zoë follow through with her idea of making a lemonade stand and then to have it succeed. She was so excited!
All this to say, that there are times when worry and anxiety can sneak in when it comes to financial situations. And yet:
Psalm 50:10 "for every animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills."
I can remember that HE does indeed own it all. We will still have to sacrifice, but God can and will show up in this process in some cool ways. Not to make much of us, but to bring glory to HIS name.
To step out in faith and know that this is the path you are to be following with God and your family is scary. There are times when I can think, "did I hear you right God?"And yet, HE brings me peace as we take each step forward. One of the steps forward is financially. There have been some neat ways God has already shown up and provided EXACTLY what we needed at the right time, by moving in the hearts of different people. It has never been too much, but just the right amount at the right time.
Our little garage sale we hosted to help towards the adoption went well, as did Zoë's little lemonade stand. It was such a blessing to see Zoë follow through with her idea of making a lemonade stand and then to have it succeed. She was so excited!
All this to say, that there are times when worry and anxiety can sneak in when it comes to financial situations. And yet:
Psalm 50:10 "for every animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills."
I can remember that HE does indeed own it all. We will still have to sacrifice, but God can and will show up in this process in some cool ways. Not to make much of us, but to bring glory to HIS name.
Sunday, July 12, 2015
Overwhelming
Overwhelming; that might be the most accurate word to depict how this first couple weeks of the adoption Journey has been.
Overwhelming … in the amount of support and encouragement we've received from family and friends as we've begun to share about our journey and invite others to join us on it.
Overwhelming … to realized the amount of faith it takes to release our financial security and comfort (goodbye saving account) in order to follow God's leading and truly trust that He is our provider * Jehovah Jireh *.
Overwhelming … how much paperwork we must compile and things that are required as a part of our home study. In the words of our adoption agency, "happy paper chasing"!
Overwhelming … excitement as we think about who the Lord going to welcome into our family and who we get to love as our very own; just as God loves us!
This journey of adopting, even in its embryonic stage, has begun to show us the overwhelming love of Christ in a greater way and the overwhelming purpose His mission has for our life. For maybe one of the first times in our life we can say we are overwhelmed and loving it!
Overwhelming … in the amount of support and encouragement we've received from family and friends as we've begun to share about our journey and invite others to join us on it.
Overwhelming … to realized the amount of faith it takes to release our financial security and comfort (goodbye saving account) in order to follow God's leading and truly trust that He is our provider * Jehovah Jireh *.
Overwhelming … how much paperwork we must compile and things that are required as a part of our home study. In the words of our adoption agency, "happy paper chasing"!
Overwhelming … excitement as we think about who the Lord going to welcome into our family and who we get to love as our very own; just as God loves us!
This journey of adopting, even in its embryonic stage, has begun to show us the overwhelming love of Christ in a greater way and the overwhelming purpose His mission has for our life. For maybe one of the first times in our life we can say we are overwhelmed and loving it!
Tuesday, June 30, 2015
The Beginning
How do I start? How do I correctly reveal the state of our hearts before deciding to adopt and after? How do you explain to someone the depth of KNOWING without a shadow of a doubt that this journey is EXACTLY what you are called and designed to walk through?
I'm not even sure where to exactly start. I've always loved adoption and the families it creates. I had never really thought that our family was called to adopt. Probably the first thing I can point to is attending a church service in Portland, OR at Westside A Jesus Church December 16, 2012. Here is the link to the podcast: click here . (Let me just warn you up front that this is a challenging message to listen to!) I left the service with a seed planted in my heart and an agitation (which was a good thing) for the plight of the fatherless. I prayed about it and then told Paul what was on my heart.
There was no movement.
2013 came and started and the seed of adoption kept growing. I felt that I needed to attend an adoption conference to find out more about adoption in general from foster care, to domestic adoption to international and how to be a part of helping orphans. I attended an amazing adoption conference with Tara Bradford and a team of wonderful women from Journey church in Bozeman, MT. I learned so much! I was both excited at the prospect of adoption, and felt renewed in our efforts to work with a school (CGA in Kenya) that works with the fatherless. I received wonderful advice from the women attending and I am so thankful for their words and encouragement.
I waited and prayed.
As a family we decided to open our home to an exchange student for the 2013-2014 school year. It fell through.
2014 came and an opportunity to host a student from China came to us. We said yes right away! We had already decided as a family to host so adding Tao to our family was a no brainer! She was amazing to have! We love her dearly and cant believe the year is already done! She is precious to us and I now have a daughter from China!
As her year with us came to an end, Paul and I had a serious talk and adoption came up. It was a definite calling to both of us and a 100% yes from us both and our kids. Crazy!! We are starting!! We were told that we would be put on a waiting list to start the process. Ok, that's fine. We were told it probably wouldn't open for us until sometime this fall or more likely next spring. We really thought that we had a little bit if time to organize our lives a little bit. HA!! Nope!! It went fast and we were called in May to say they had an opening and we could apply to adopt and begin the process with adoption in Haiti. WHAT!?!?! REALLY?!?!?! Whoa!! Here we go! So now here we are!
Paul and I both decided on Haiti for the adoptions because we have both been to the country and experienced the culture and the amazing people. Again, we have a huge peace that this is what we are to be pursuing. We know this is a long process and we are praying that you will walk alongside of us in prayer as we go along this journey.
Psalm 68:5-6a
5 A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows,
is God in his holy dwelling.
6 God sets the lonely in families,
I'm not even sure where to exactly start. I've always loved adoption and the families it creates. I had never really thought that our family was called to adopt. Probably the first thing I can point to is attending a church service in Portland, OR at Westside A Jesus Church December 16, 2012. Here is the link to the podcast: click here . (Let me just warn you up front that this is a challenging message to listen to!) I left the service with a seed planted in my heart and an agitation (which was a good thing) for the plight of the fatherless. I prayed about it and then told Paul what was on my heart.
There was no movement.
2013 came and started and the seed of adoption kept growing. I felt that I needed to attend an adoption conference to find out more about adoption in general from foster care, to domestic adoption to international and how to be a part of helping orphans. I attended an amazing adoption conference with Tara Bradford and a team of wonderful women from Journey church in Bozeman, MT. I learned so much! I was both excited at the prospect of adoption, and felt renewed in our efforts to work with a school (CGA in Kenya) that works with the fatherless. I received wonderful advice from the women attending and I am so thankful for their words and encouragement.
I waited and prayed.
As a family we decided to open our home to an exchange student for the 2013-2014 school year. It fell through.
2014 came and an opportunity to host a student from China came to us. We said yes right away! We had already decided as a family to host so adding Tao to our family was a no brainer! She was amazing to have! We love her dearly and cant believe the year is already done! She is precious to us and I now have a daughter from China!
As her year with us came to an end, Paul and I had a serious talk and adoption came up. It was a definite calling to both of us and a 100% yes from us both and our kids. Crazy!! We are starting!! We were told that we would be put on a waiting list to start the process. Ok, that's fine. We were told it probably wouldn't open for us until sometime this fall or more likely next spring. We really thought that we had a little bit if time to organize our lives a little bit. HA!! Nope!! It went fast and we were called in May to say they had an opening and we could apply to adopt and begin the process with adoption in Haiti. WHAT!?!?! REALLY?!?!?! Whoa!! Here we go! So now here we are!
Paul and I both decided on Haiti for the adoptions because we have both been to the country and experienced the culture and the amazing people. Again, we have a huge peace that this is what we are to be pursuing. We know this is a long process and we are praying that you will walk alongside of us in prayer as we go along this journey.
Psalm 68:5-6a
5 A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows,
is God in his holy dwelling.
6 God sets the lonely in families,
Friday, June 26, 2015
2015
So far I have only been writing a once a year blog post. This is soon to change! I will keep you all updated as we begin a new journey. It's exciting and we will definitely need you all to walk with us in prayer.
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